The view from Philip Zea’s office tucked in back of the sprawling Historic Deerfield campus offers a glimpse into early American life.
One can barely hear the passing cars as they traverse the road behind the building, past a thicket of trees. Out front, the pedestrian-friendly street and the antique homes that dot either side serve as testament to a passion for preserving New England history and the culture of the Connecticut River Valley.
“We view this street and the surrounding land as the museum’s largest artifact,” says Zea, president of Historic Deerfield since 2003.
Zea has found his niche spanning the twinned yet independent worlds of the antiques trade and museums throughout his far-reaching career.
“I’ve tried to build my career as a bridge between both worlds,” he said. “It’s all one business and the passion is based on an appreciation and love of design and technique and the stories behind the objects, as well as the friends and acquaintances you make along the way.”
A common refrain among Zea’s peers is their admiration for his approachability and willingness to share his considerable knowledge.
That, combined with his infectious enthusiasm for antiques and cultural history, is what led the Antiques Dealers Association of America (ADA) to name Zea its 2009 Award of Merit winner. The award will officially be presented at a dinner in Zea’s honor on April 18, in conjunction with the Philadelphia Antiques Show at the Navy Yard. Past winners include Joe Kindig III, Wendell Garrett, Elinor Gordon, Albert Sack, Betty Ring, Dean Failey and Scudder Smith.
“Phil is one of the most approachable people I’ve met. He is always interested, he is always looking and thinking and always engaged,” said ADA President John Keith Russell. “He’s the first to jump in the back of a van and look at something and talk about it and share his thoughts.”
Zea has spent his career devoted to the study and preservation of artifacts and colonial culture. He is well steeped in the world of academia, but he is far from the quintessential image of a staid museum director.
He certainly looks the part of a chief executive officer and is perfectly at home in his office, working with million-dollar budgets and guiding a staff of 50 full-time and more than 70 part-time employees. Yet he has repeatedly proven that he is not afraid to get out in the field and get his hands dirty †whether cleaning a display window for Colonial Williamsburg’s installation at the Winter Antiques Show or getting on his hands and knees to look up the skirts of a highboy while vetting antiques as a member of the Winter Antiques Show’s vetting committee for its annual show in New York City.
History runs deep in Zea’s veins. He grew up in the small town of Plainfield, N.H., where his father, Howard, was the town clerk from 1943 to 2000. The younger Zea has attended auctions and antiques shows ever since he can remember. His maternal grandparents were active in museums, most notably with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Living in an area rich in history and with an appreciation for environment and artifacts fostered by his family, Zea’s career path was seemingly predestined.
He graduated cum laude from Wesleyan University in 1974 with a bachelor’s in history, followed by in 1978 by the two-year program as a Winterthur Fellow in early American culture and a master’s from the University of Delaware. Meanwhile, he began his career in 1974 as a National Endowment for the Humanities intern at Old Sturbridge Village, followed by three years at the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord, N.H., during the Bicentennial.
He then came to Historic Deerfield (the first time) as an assistant curator in 1981. He swiftly moved up the ranks, becoming the chief curator from 1986 to 1996 and deputy director from 1996 to 1999. He was instrumental in bringing the ADA’s fall show to the Deerfield Academy in the late 1990s.
“The school provides the hockey rink for the show. It’s a great setting for a great show,” he said. “The quality of the merchandise is high, and the product of a real symbiotic relationship.”
One of the hallmark achievements in his tenure at Deerfield was his key role in the opening of the Flynt Center of Early New England Life, a 27,000-square-foot space primarily devoted to exhibition galleries that opened in September 1998. He also curated the center’s opening exhibition, “Pursuing Refinement in Rural New England, 1750‱850.”
When an opportunity opened up in 1999 to join Colonial Williamsburg, as much as he loved Deerfield, he jumped at the chance to fulfill his dream of working for a large institution. “I had to think about it for ten seconds,” he says.
After working as the curator of furniture at Colonial Williamsburg, he moved back north to Boston to become vice president of museums and collections at the Society for Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England). He spent two years there before returning to Historic Deerfield in 2003 as president to oversee its consolidation and plan for its growth. The collections have grown, too, notably with the partial gift purchase that brought the William H. Guthman Collection of Engraved Powder Horns to Deerfield in 2005.
“This ongoing acquisition is a reach for Historic Deerfield,” says Zea, but, “the board and staff feel that that this collection is a vitally important cultural statement from the Eighteenth Century and must be preserved for the American public †this is the ultimate in historic preservation!”
Another ongoing project at Historic Deerfield that Zea is keen on is the restoration of the Barnard Tavern, which was built as a wing on a preexisting house, circa 1795. In the latter Eighteenth Century, the tavern was at the heart of village life and a place where locals and travelers shared meals and news, or met to do business. In an upstairs assembly room, Deerfield Academy was born with the inaugural meeting of its founding trustees.
“It’s a building we’re excited about because we’ve done a lot with domestic architecture,” said Zea, noting that this will be a new opportunity to explore the convergence of social influences in a public setting.
The building is being carefully restored, an installation plan developed and it is slated to reopen in fall 2011.
A short-term project is the Dwight House, which will reopen in a few weeks as a center for historic trades, focusing on architectural woodworking, ceramics and textile production. “It’s also meant to align with the current furniture exhibition here †’Into The Woods,'” he noted.
One improvement Zea would like to see on the Deerfield campus is highlighted in the museum’s current annual report, which calls for a Central Campus Plan initiative.
“We are basically gateless. If you’ve never been here before, it’s hard to figure out where to go,” he said, noting that this plan is in the schematic phase to design a small visitors center, dependent on a major fundraising effort down the road.
Guiding fundraising efforts is right up Zea’s alley, as he has excelled in building partnerships with his peers and colleagues in all facets of the business over the years. Antiques dealer and longtime ADA board member Arthur Liverant praised Zea’s support of dealers over the years.
“When we do the ADA show, he walks the floor, he is excited about the merchandise on the floor and he shares his knowledge with dealers,” Liverant said. “We love to teach, so we respect that wonderful trait of his. He’s willing to teach what took him so long to learn and that is so important to what he does.”
Liverant said Zea’s approachability is one of his strengths. “I think he has been a great leader at Deerfield because of his mannerism of approachability,” he said, adding, “He’s very helpful to all parties: the collectors, the museum world, the dealers&nd he also has a wonderful attitude and enthusiasm that is contagious and refreshing. He’s such a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the field.”
Another refreshing aspect of Zea’s leadership style is his willingness to share the spotlight and give credit where due.
“A lot of what we do are collaborations,” Zea said, pointing out that accomplishments under his tenure are the shared result of dedicated curators and other devoted staff. “It’s not just me, it’s a great team.”
By way of example, he cites a housekeeping staffer, Elaine Jarvis, who once single-handedly obtained a $100,000 grant from a local foundation for internal improvements here. “Why did she do it? Because she loves the place and wanted to see it look better.” He is quick to say an effective leader surrounds himself with good people and he names two vice presidents, Anne Lanning on the museum side and Susan Martinelli on the business side, as an illustration.
“Phil is the first person to give you all the credit and to acknowledge your contributions. He’s a standout example of what’s right in the antiques world,” echoed John Keith Russell.
While several high-profile museums have announced cuts to staffing or operations, the financial outlook at Historic Deerfield, while not dazzlingly bright, appears steady.
“We’re a fairly small operation with good name recognition,” Zea said. “We are in a good position to solve our problems efficiently,” noting that in past fiscal crunches, the museum has already put belt-tightening efficiencies into place and can do so again.
“The key piece is you have to think outside the box,” he said, adding that Deerfield has more options than a typical museum with just four walls. “We have many constituencies who love everything from antique teacups to old houses to this breathtaking landscape that’s still actively farmed.”
A prolific author, Zea has written dozens of scholarly articles and booklets over the years on such topics as clocks, serpentine furniture of Colonial Newport, Vermont furniture making, Hadley chests and furniture design in the American backcountry.
He already has two books and several catalog contributions under his belt. In 1992, he authored, with Robert C. Cheney, Clockmaking in New England, 1725‱825: An Interpretation of the Old Sturbridge Village Collection and two years later, with Donald Dunlap, The Dunlap Cabinetmakers: A Tradition in Craftsmanship. Zea also penned the exhibition catalog for Deerfield’s “Pursuing Refinement” that won an award from the New England Museum Association.
Dunlap Cabinetmakers offers not only a study of the Dunlaps and the Scots Irish cabinetmaking tradition in New Hampshire, but serves as an exhaustive catalog of Dunlap pieces, most of which are in museums. With detailed drawings to scale and a wealth of construction notes from Donald Dunlap, cabinetmakers today can recreate the Dunlap tradition.
Zea has invested considerable research on the subject of American backcountry furniture design and hopes to publish a full-length book, although his current schedule precludes him from completing that task now.
When not working, he enjoys going to auctions, fishing and skiing and taking trips with his family. He and his wife, Betsy, were married in 2004.
They recently took a weeklong college road trip with his daughter, Emily, a junior at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H., from which Phil graduated in 1970. She enjoys snowboarding and lacrosse. His son, Gibb, is a freshman at Lynchburg College and enjoys history and has amassed skill as a historical reenactment tailor.
“Living in the historic area at Colonial Williamsburg ten years ago surrounded by all those great colleagues and neighbors greatly influenced the kids and was a good experience for all of us,” he said.
Not surprisingly, Zea is a tad reticent about the impending attention that will be heaped on him as he receives his award.
“I’m honored and humbled. It’s really an out-of-body experience,” he said. “There are many more deserving people than me.”
For more information on the ADA or for tickets to the dinner, www.adadealers.com or 203-364-9913.
